Peaking too soon?

CNN has the story:

A new national poll suggests Barack Obama is widening his lead over John McCain in the race for the White House. Fifty-three percent of likely voters questioned in the poll say they are backing Obama for president, with 45 percent supporting McCain. That eight-point lead is double the four-point lead Obama held in the last CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, taken in mid-September.
More Americans appear to have an unfavorable view of Governor Sarah Palin, and that may also be helping Obama in the fight for the presidency. Forty percent now have an unfavorable view of Palin, up from 27 percent a month ago and from 21 percent in late August, when McCain surprised many people by picking the first-term Alaska governor as his running mate.